As part of the Buyers Trade Mission, from 25 to 27 September, 500 Costa Rican exporters will be meeting with 300 entrepreneurs from 50 countries.

The Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer), the institution in charge of organizing the event, reported that this year it foresees holding 5,300 business appointments at the event, which will take place at the Costa Rica Convention Center, in Barreal de Heredia.

A virtual seminar has been organized for April 5, on recommendations to negotiate with Indian companies and best practices for exporting to that market.

From a statement issued by PROCOMER:

ConnectAmericas, anonlineplatformcreated by the Inter - American Development Bank (IDB) with support from Google, DHL, Visa and Alibaba will be holding afreewebinaron essential tips for doing business in India, on April 6 at 10:00 am, in which best practices for entering the Indian market will be explored and useful guidelines will be provided for the export process.

The debt that the state has owed to export companies for four years, from unrefunded VAT, has now reached $50 million.

Silvia Cuéllar, executive director of Coexport, told Elmundo.sv that"... every year, the Ministry of Finance should have reimbursed exporters about $200 million, and the amount now overdue is $50 million."

It has been announced that as of November 17th enterprises must carry out a mandatory exporter VAT self-assessment using a web platform.

The union of exporters is not entirely satisfied with this online system, stating that it has some limitations, such as only allowing "... cross matching withholding of exporter VAT with importer VAT to recover the money.

In the last two years Guatemala has doubled its exports of biscuits, sweets, chewing gum, confectionery, and preparations for soup and drinks going to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

In the first half of this year sales by the food industry to Caribbean countries topped $20 billion, $13 billion more than in the same period in 2013.

From September 2nd to 4th melon and watermelon exporters from Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean will be gathering together in Panama City to discuss issues related to marketing strategies and trade agreements.

From a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Panama:

From September 22nd to 25th, the XVII edition of the Buyers Trade Mission will bring together in Costa Rica exporters and 180 international buyers from 30 countries.

From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office :

San Jose, July 31, 2015. A platform for companies with export potential to showcase their products to different countries around the world and be able to diversify their business, from inside of Costa Rica.

The export sector is pushing for the Ministry of Finance to accelerate the delivery of credit notes for tax refunds.

The Corporation of Exporters of El Salvador (Coexport) estimates that the amount owed exceeds $50 million, and is insisting that the government remove the obstacles that prevent accelerating tax refunds to exporters.

Exporters claim that the Ministry of Finance takes up to 10 months to give credit notes for tax refunds, accumulating a debt of $70 million.

To date the Ministry of Finance has issued $41 million in Treasury credit notes (NCTP) to pay off part of the debt. However, representatives from the Corporation of Exporters of El Salvador (Coexport) state that this type of payment represents a loss for exporters, as NCTP's can be sold but wat a discount of up to 5%.

In El Salvador the export sector claims that delays of up to nine months are being reported on tax refunds due from the Treasury, which should take no more than 30 days.

Seven months ago the Exporters Corporation of El Salvador (Coexport) submitted to the Ministry of Finance a proposal for self-assessment of Value Added Tax (VAT) with the aim of reducing the time it takes to receive tax refunds. To date they have not yet received a reply from the authorities and, according to the entrepreneurs themselves, the State owes approximately $50 million in this category.